1855 PCGS MS65 Red OGH - What's it worth?

FullStrike

eBay item

Being in the market for an 1855 Coin I often look at various offering on eBay. I found this Large Cent but knowing very little about such things I'd like to hear any comments that more knowlegeable folks might have .

Seeing how long this has been up with no bids I'm inclined to think it's way overpriced.

fountainheadgold

Yes Overpriced

tradedollarnut

What a great looking cent.

TwoSides2aCoin

Part of why I do not like the BUY IT NOW feature is that most are at full retail. This particular one is marked up another 25% over retail. PCGS price guide says $4100..... my logic would say : RUN AWAY FAST !

tradedollarnut

my logic would say : RUN AWAY FAST !

Mine says 'I'm tempted to buy it'. The price is a bit high, but it usually is for nice coins.

jdimmick

I am not an expert by far in early red copper, but I am with TDN:

What a nice early red Large cent and popular date as well. Not to mention and early green stable holder. If I were in the market for one, this coin looks to be it. Again, you have to pay for quality!!!!!!

jim

Theop

Send the seller a message and make him a reasonable offer. You might get lucky.

coinguy1

It looks to be a very nice example, BUT.....

1) One set of images makes it look more "RD" than the other, and I suspect the less "RD" ones are the more accurate;
2) I have seen almost all others of this type and grade sell at less than $4000 and many at less than $3000;
3) I do not believe it is an upgrade candidate, due to mellowing of color/discoloration at the lower right obverse area and at the first "A" in "AMERICA", among others.

UncleJoe

I like it! I really like it!!

Here's one where the guides and reality might differ. What is the right price for this coin?

I am actually very tempted even though it may appear "overpriced". I do have a dollar amount in mind for this coin and unfortunately the Buy-It-Now is more than my figure but that does not mean that it is overpriced IMO.

Joe.

UncleJoe

Mark, Great analysis.

To clarify this is one that obviously needs to be seen in-hand.

Based on his pics this coin is three different colors which of course can't be correct. If the coin looks anything like a true red coin, then I stand by my previous post. If on the other hand, as Mark has pointed out, it is more RB, then I would not be as interested.

Joe.

tlhoy

On January 11, 2005 at the Orlando, FL. (FUN) Signature Sale a NGC graded MS66 Red 1855 large cent sold for $3,680.00 and that's with 15% juice.

Way overpriced if you ask me.

tlhoy

And on September 24, 2005 at the Long Beach Signature Auction, a PCGS graded MS 65 Red sold for $2,530.00 and that's with 15% juice

291fifth

Nice coin. Overpriced.

majorbigtime

<< <i>Nice coin. Overpriced. >>




ditto

RYK

Mark Feld has two 1855 half cents for sale on his website, both of which I have seen, and both of which are very nice coins and worthy of consideration.

tradedollarnut

And on September 24, 2005 at the Long Beach Signature Auction, a PCGS graded MS 65 Red sold for $2,530.00 and that's with 15% juice

It's important to compare apples to apples when pricing coins. I suspect the reason that coin brought what it did is because it has mellowed too much:

tradedollarnut

On January 11, 2005 at the Orlando, FL. (FUN) Signature Sale a NGC graded MS66 Red 1855 large cent sold for $3,680.00 and that's with 15% juice.

Actually, that was 2003 - almost 3 years ago - and the coin looked like this:

tradedollarnut

I don't completely disagree with Mark's analysis which is why I didn't pull the trigger last night, but:

1) I looked at all the sales on Heritage and most of the coins had significant spots or other problems that affected the price
2) There's a 7 day return privilege
3) The color and look are outstanding and worth a premium as is the old holder which denotes the stability of the coin

It is a bit overpriced, but not as much as a brief scan of prices realized would make one believe.

fc

is this what someone called "throwing away the sheet"?

i must admit it looks like a nice coin.

edited to add: what would this conversation be like in a down market?

DMWJR

That is a coin worth buying. The only reason I am not pulling the trigger is that I already have one in that grade.

Buy the coin not the holder

The comparative examples are not even close. The EBay coin has very nice color and luster, and minimal spots for a big fat red copper. There are many people on these boards who have more experience than I do with old copper, but I have seen a few myself. To me the color variations in different pictures are still consistent with my experience with these coins.

Here are a couple of pics of my 1853 that I took a couple of years ago. I should reimage them since I have better equipment now, but here they are.

tradedollarnut

Here's your beautiful cent:

DMWJR

Thanks TDN! I forgot to do that.

The 1853 is also in an OGH and is graded 66red.

EDIT: The Ebay coin is one of 74 with 14 higher. So, you will have another opportunity to acquire a similar coin maybe at a better price.

tlhoy

<< <i>pass over priced and has some carbon spotting on both sides. Mellowing is evident. Not worth

the premium. >>



Way overpriced.

Russ

Pricing considerations aside, it sure is a damned nice looking coin - and I don't even like this version of Miss Liberty.

Russ, NCNE

STEWARTBLAYNUMIS

I know a little about early red copper.First there are two varieties of 1855 Large cents.This is the upright fives variety as opposed to the slanted fives variety.There is generally no premium but the upright fives is a bit scarcer.This is definitely a gem with the correct grade.If you look at the radial lines on the stars they are lacking from 9-12 o'clock.PCGS will probably not upgrade this coin.NGC probably will upgrade it.The 1855 is the biggest hoard coin.So is the 1855 half cent.
My advice is to wait until FUN as there will be a complete date set of Large cents up for auction.In the set there is a 1855 upright fives in PCGS ms 66 red.A properly graded ms 66 should be had for $6,000.A properly graded ms 65 should be had for $3,000.This item on E Bay should be had for about $4,000 give or take 10%.

Stewart

291fifth

<< <i>is this what someone called "throwing away the sheet"?

i must admit it looks like a nice coin.

edited to add: what would this conversation be like in a down market? >>



This is down market.

roadrunner

A nice coin for sure if it were in the $3000-3500 range. The seller's hype is excessive so I passed over this yesterday when I saw it.
The seller cannot describe his own coin accurately. Too many light marks in the field and as Mark said, some other coloration issues that should keep this in the OGH. Weak stars may play a role in MS66 Lib Nickels but not usually in MS66RD early copper unless most of the stars are flat. I'd have no problems paying all the money for a 66 RD large cent if the surfaces and color were all there.

Those 2 comparison coins were not very nice. The PCGS coin has turned RB and the NGC 65REDs often have unnatural or too mellowed color. Yuk. The plastic sold, that was all. Junk like that in holders at $2500 is what keeps the real coins from being worth $4000-5000. Seller is dreaming at $5000+

The photos tell the story and I can add but a little here. This gem is in an old green PCGS holder. It is more red than any large cent I've seen. It redefines what a 'Red' large cent is. There are NO tiny black carbon spots whatever even under a magnifier -- remarkable for so large a coin. There are only a few small areas of mellowing only visible from certain angles. The luster cartwheels grandly. A truly exceptional opportunity and a very special coin.

This may well be an opportunity that only comes once. I should mention that the coin looks MUCH better than the photos -- the last pictures were taken under bright summer sun and show every bit of mellowing. In the hand this coin is almost perfectly red.

roadrunner

BigMoose

Coinguy1 and LordMasterStewart are very astute in their assessments of this 1855. First of all, the coin looks like a Newcomb 4, which is a hoard coin. Tons of these exist in Unc., many of which are full red or nearly so. I suspect that several of the nicer full red 1885 N4s are in EAC hands, many of which are not yet slabbed. You should be able to get a really nice full red 65 coin for around $3000.00. Better yet, a wonderful and essentially flawless 66RB of this date should only set you back $1000.00 to $1500.00.

DMWJR, your 1853 is a Wonderful coin!!

DMWJR

Here's one for sale on DHRC for $3,900, but may have more spots than the EBay coin:

Link